The Purdue men's basketball team has relied heavily on the play of Robbie Hummel throughout its recent hot streak. The Boilers entered the Big Ten Tournament winners of five of seven with Hummel averaging 22 points and nine rebounds during that stretch.
In Thursday’s 79-61 opening round win against Nebraska, Hummel scored just ten points and grabbed seven rebounds, but a heroic performance wasn’t needed from the First Team All-Big Ten selection, because his teammates lessened the load.
"I think Anthony (Johnson) got a few baskets going to the rim, Terone (Johnson) did as well, and you had some guys make some three's in there, I think it was DJ (Byrd) and Ryne (Smith)," said Hummel. "I thought it was a great team effort and a great team win."
Nebraska jumped out to an early 12-8 lead, but then Purdue rattled off 17 straight points en route to a 39-31 halftime lead. The Cornhuskers chipped away at the deficit out of the break, trimming it to as little as six, but the Boilermakers again went on a terror, posting a 16-3 run midway through the final 20-minutes to give Nebraska a loss in its first ever Big Ten Tournament game.
"I thought we did a good job attacking them off the dribble and just making the right decision," said head coach Matt Painter. "I thought we had a healthy balance of making the right decision and making the right play."
The runs were fueled by Purdue’s prolific outside shooting and stout defense. The Boilers connected on 13-of-25 three pointers, tying a Big Ten Tournament record. Purdue also broke a single-season school record for most threes made in a season.
Ryne Smith led the barrage of triples with five which accounted for all of his 15-points.
"When Anthony, Terone, and Lewis (Jackson) can get to the rim like that, it just opens up a ton of stuff for our offense, especially when we move the ball early in the possession, we can get open lanes to drive" said Smith. "They do a great job of kicking it and thankfully we were fortunate enough to get some (shots) to go down today."
Sophomore Terone Johnson chipped in a complete game with 16-points, six rebounds, and six assists and conference Sixth Man of the Year D.J Byrd added ten points, including three triples.
Anthony Johnson led Purdue with 17-points off the bench. It’s only the second time in the redshirt freshman’s career that he has led the Boilermakers in scoring. He also added six-rebounds and four assists.
"I just try to come in and be aggressive and give us some energy, starting off with defense and rebounding and if the offense comes then I'm going to take advantage of it," said Johnson. "I'm really just coming in trying to give my team a spark."
Purdue held Nebraska to just 41-percent shooting for the night and 8-of-27 from beyond the three point arc. Bo Spencer scored 22 for the Huskers and Toney McCray added 13, but it wasn’t enough to extend Nebraska’s inaugural Big Ten season.
"(It's) so very important for us to defend them on the perimeter but not let them get loose from three, and I thought we did a good job of that," said Painter.
Purdue advances to the tournament quarterfinals for the sixth year in a row.
The Boilers, who will have to win four games in four days if they hope to claim their first conference tournament title in three years, will play third seed Ohio State in the quarterfinals, Friday.
The Buckeyes snuck past Purdue a month ago by three in Columbus in the teams’ only meeting this season.
But, with only one player (T. Johnson) playing more than 30 minutes Thursday, Purdue should be rested and, more importantly, confident heading into their matchup with the Buckeyes.
"(Friday) is a huge game for us," said Hummel. "Not only in terms of getting another opportunity to play a ranked team, but it's an opportunity to improve our (NCAA Tournament) seeding."